First Words
by love.always.forever.1335
Summary: The turtles are all learning to talk, but no one wants to teach Mikey any new words. T-Tots.


Turtle tot story where Mikey's first word is Raph

Though they were all very close in age, Mikey was clearly the youngest. He had taken the longest to fully develop. He was the last to learn to learn to walk and the only one of the turtle brothers that had not yet said his first word.

Splinter worked hard with each of his sons, teaching them simple words and phrases they used on a regular basis. Things like: Thank you, please, hungry, tired, messy, sorry, and daddy; among other small words.

The other turtles caught on quickly, and were using these words often. They knew when to say each word and how to say them. They ran around the lair proudly proclaiming their new words for everyone to hear…everyone being Splinter and his turtle sons. But as the others ran around naming everything in the room, Mikey sat in the corner. He tried to talk, but he couldn't make himself say them. He was stuck with syllables. He lived in the world where he communicated with "ba" and "ga." Splinter had become fluent in that language, and always understood what Mikey wanted. But he could tell that Mikey wanted to talk, like his brothers. Mikey felt inferior. He wanted to cry, but he knew that there was nothing Splinter could give him that would make him talk.

He wished he could say just one word. Only one. Then he would at least be able to parade around with his brothers announcing his one word happily. He stood up and started to follow Leo around, listening closely to him as he spoke. He was standing around the sofa yelling "Sofa" as loud as he could. Mikey tried to repeat him, but the farthest he could get was a continuous S sound. Leo noticed that Mikey was trying to copy him. "NO!" Leo shouted, shooing Mikey away.

Leo quickly became very defensive over his words; he wanted them to be special. Words that no one else would say. He wanted to own his words, and make their father proud that he was going above and beyond. He started using words that Splinter had never taught them, like sofa or oven. These were words that he just managed to pick up listening to Splinter talk all the time. He was proud he had learned them on his own, and didn't want Mikey, or any of his other brothers saying them.

Mikey frowned as he went to go find another one of his brothers. He found Donnie running around the kitchen, naming everything in sight. "Water. Cup. Chair. Clock." He just rattled the words off, like it was a timed competition to see who could say the most words the fastest, and Donnie was the only player. Mikey stood in the doorway and watched as Donnie ran around the kitchen like a chicken with his head cut off.

Donnie saw Mikey as a distraction; he couldn't focus on his words with Mikey standing there. "Away" he said, pushing Mikey out of the doorway, continuing with his game. Mikey sighed as he went to find his last brother.

Raph was sitting in the dojo, practicing the words he picked up from ninja training. "Again. Better. Faster." He was pretending to be Splinter, and his action figures were his students. Mikey smiled and sat down across from Raph, using his hands and eyes to communicate that he wanted to play too. "Mine!" Raph shouted his favorite word, pulling all of his figures closer to him. "Out!" he pointed at the door.

Mikey stood up and trudged out of the dojo and back to the corner where he started his "learning" adventure. All he had learned was that his brothers were unwilling to help him learn to alk. He returned to his coloring book and crayons, silently coloring in the pictures.

Some time passed, and the parading little boys stopped and sat down to watch some TV. Mikey continued coloring as his brothers mumbled mean things about him over on the sofa. He couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but one would say something, the others would laugh, and then they would all turn to look at him. Mikey may not be the brightest of all the turtles, but he could clearly tell when he was unwanted and disrespected.

Raph stood up off the couch, chuckled a little, and walked over to where Mikey was sitting. He picked up some of the crayons Mikey was not using and snapped them right in half. He dropped the pieces on the floor and went back over to join his other brothers on the couch. They all started to laugh at him.

Mikey was on the verge of tears. I picked up the broken pieces and tried to put them back together, though it didn't work. He stood up. He had never wished he could talk so badly in his short life. He just wanted to yell at his brothers so much. They not only hurt his feelings by neglecting him, but they also broke his crayons. They were all he had.

He walked over to his brothers with the broken pieces in his hands. He opened his mouth to cry, but instead a word came out. He had heard their father scold Raphael so many times before; it just seemed like a second nature kind of thing. "Raph!" Mikey yelled, only it sounded more like "waf."

His brothers sat there dumbfounded. Mikey was the only one of them that had been able to say any of their names. They now felt inferior to their littlest brother, who had outdone all of them with just one tiny word.

Splinter came rushing into the room after hearing the yelling, "Michelangelo, did you just speak?" He asked, more interested in Mikey speaking than his having his crayons crushed.

Mikey nodded, showing him the broken crayon pieces. Splinter looked up at Raph with disappointment, and then to the other brothers sitting innocently on the couch. It did not take a brain surgeon to figure out what had happened. "Boys, apologize to your brother." He demanded, picking up his youngest and holding him in his arms.

The boys apologized, Raph especially. Splinter told Mikey that he would go out and find him some new crayons. Mikey nodded in response, but he was really not that interested in coloring anymore. He had a word now. And he planned to use it with pride. As soon as Splinter left the living room, Mikey started to run around like crazy, shouting "Raph" at the top of his lungs.

It drove his brothers to insanity, and also to intense jealousy. Raph had never been more annoyed by the sound of his own name. But Mikey was proud to finally have a word that only he could say. His new favorite word. Raph.


End file.
